Revelation Chapter One, The Message To The Churches

Revelation 1:11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

Verse 11 repeats what Christ spoke in verse 8, further confirming that it is the Lord Jesus Christ and not God the Father speaking with John. How do we know this? In verse 1 John records that this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which the Father gave to Him to show John. In verse 12, John turns to see who spoke to him, and beholds the glorified Christ, fulfilling the Father’s will by revealing these things.

Twice the Lord tells us in this chapter that He is the Beginning and the End, or the First and the Last. He is the Alpha and the Omega. It is an interesting choice that our Lord uses the Greek letters to encompass who He is. He is saying that, as words give meaning to expression, which is why people choose certain words to convey certain ideas, so does Christ give meaning to language and the reality language conveys. All ideas, thoughts, conceptions, and the ultimate reality that undergirds all existence is defined by Him. Both because He exists and because He brought existence into being. As an author, I would expect that if someone wanted to know about Andurun and my fantasy writing, they would ask me for details and explanations. Why? Because I created it; I am the only person qualified to explain because the fictional world of Andurun is my brainchild. The universe and intelligent life is Christ’s brainchild. He is our Maker, solely and uniquely qualified to define creation and existence, employing language to convey meaning to a race that was designed by God to think, ponder, and consider rationally, morally, and in a binary manner. By binary, I mean yes and no, good and evil, right and wrong.

The Lord commands John to write letters to the seven churches of Asia. The number seven is used in verse 4, again remarking about the churches and describing the Holy Spirit. The number seven signifies completion in Scripture. The Asiatic churches Christ our Lord mentions are the representative sampling of the types of churches that will continue to exist during the church age. Yes, they existed at that time as John knew them. What I mean is that, while the letters were initially meant specifically for them, the spirit of those churches as our Lord diagnoses the good and the bad exist throughout the world today. Christ our Lord is the Great Physician: He is examining the spiritual condition of the body and prescribing the medicine that will remedy the ailments they variously suffer.

Revelation 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke to me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

In verse 10 John records that the voice spoke to him like a trumpet, loud and commanding. Verse 11 is a record of what the Lord said to John, instructing him what he sees to write, and to send it to the seven churches of Asia. His attention obviously arrested by the voice that spoke to him in the solitude of Patmos, John turned to see who had joined him.

Archaeological findings do suggest that prisoners on Patmos were kept in solitary confinement. Since they were political enemies and dangers to public conformity, it would seem prudent to keep them as far from everyone else as possible, thereby nullifying their danger by giving them no platform to launch their rhetoric from. So John was perhaps rather startled to find himself no longer alone on the Lord’s Day.

What follows, beginning in this verse, is a description of what awaited John when he turned about. First we see the seven golden lampstands, which of course draws one’s thoughts to the Jewish Menorah. The concept of fire is, of course, also highly prevalent in Jewish worship. We read, “A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out,” Leviticus 6:13. God Himself, appearing before Israel in the Shekinah glory, consumed the offerings of the people after Moses and Aaron had blessed them, Leviticus 9:24. The fire of the Old Testament that was always to be kindled both warmed and burned; it could accept the offering of the people for sin, and it destroyed those who offered what was profane, as the sons of Aaron learned when God burned them to death for refusing to obey what was commanded, Leviticus 10:1, 2. God is referred to as a consuming fire in Scripture, Hebrews 12:29, see also Malachi 4:1-3.

The Holy Spirit is the New Testament equivalent of the perpetual fire we are never to quench. Paul warns believers that we are capable of quenching the Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5:19. This same Greek term is also used in Mark 9:46 and 9:48 when talking about the fire of Hell. It is employed in Hebrews 11:34 when the writer speaks about quenching the violence of fire. In the New Testament it is associated with fire and its cessation. The Greek word is, “sbennumi,” and it simply means to extinguish or go out. The seven golden lampstands again are a reference to God the Holy Spirit and His unique presence as being the illuminating and energizing agency of the church.